A girl struck by wanderlust Yongin to Si the world!

Cats, cafes and children, so many children

Now that I’ve finally moved into my apartment more or less set it up the I want, I can start to imagine how this next year might play out (with many an unexpected twist thrown in. You can only expect the unexpected while living an entirely new ex-pat life in a foreign continent- anything can, and will, happen!)

I’m excited to put up pictures of my apartment- patience is required while I finish sweeping all the dust and wiping down all the cupboards, something the previous tenant definitely did not do as often as I intend to 😛

But first, more cute cafes- although these will likely have nothing on the cat cafes, dog cafes, and absolute cornucopia of themed cafes waiting to be discovered this weekend in Seoul! (It’s Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving, which means a four-day weekend and a chance to explore the big city some more.)

As for the children- this week has been a gong show of lesson prep, adorable faces, memos and logistics, whiteboard markers, and phonics- it’s a LOT to try and remember and manage at once, but I have no doubt that next week will be easier, and the week after that, and so on, until something totally unexpected pops up! I’ll have more on that later. For now, let me just note this strange feeling- for every thing I am learning, there are two things I’m that discovering I still need to learn!

Coffee makes your happy.

Entirely excited to see a bright blue sky for the first time in a while!

‘Honey bread’ and coffee. Yummm.

Yet another cute cafe.

Two cloud masses converging. Does the one on the left look a bit like a bear?

These are called yakgwa- traditional cookies made with honey and wheat flour. After I quickly went through two packages, I realized I should probably stop buying them ^_^

Last weekend, two of my coworkers invited me on a trip to Seoul, to check out the Noryangjin Fish Market, and Yeouido Park. The market, as one would expect, was abuzz with shoppers bargaining, skilled vendors with sharp knives, and, of course, fish!

We decided on a flatfish, and had it cut into small chunks. At a restaurant upstairs, we feasted on the raw fish wrapped in lettuce leaves with a variety of sauces. In addition, we had a soup made with daikon, green onion and noodles (and a fish eye was definitely floating in it!)

Afterwards, we hopped on the subway to Yeouido Park, located on an island in the middle of the Han river. Oval walking and biking tracks led us around the park, with various points of interest along the way.

Sejong the Great- he invented Korea’s highly logical alphabet, Hangul, in the 14th century, replacing the Chinese characters in use at the time.

My coworkers Hannah and Megan playing on exercise machines, which are not an uncommon sight in Korean parks.

The hibiscus- Korea’s national flower.

Selfie in the woods!

Korean street cats ❤

Something seemed a little fishy on our walk back to the subway station.

Seen outside the Seoul Museum of Art (which I plan to return and visit!)

2 thoughts on “Cats, cafes and children, so many children”

I love all the pictures you take and share. That blue dress you have in the one is super cute and those parks look beautiful. Teaching sounds hectic! But you should fall into a good routine before you know it. How old are the kids you’re teaching?

Thanks, Cyn! Teaching’s definitely more of a challenge than I expected- but I’m coping, and every day I’m getting more accustomed to how lessons and so on are set up here. I’m teaching at the elementary level so my students are between around 5 and 12 years old.